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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29880177">Inked</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatasha/pseuds/Lunatasha'>Lunatasha</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Bleach</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Alternate Universe - Yakuza, F/M, First Meetings, Meet-Cute, Somehow</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-29</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-16 03:00:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,494</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29880177</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lunatasha/pseuds/Lunatasha</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Karin wondered what happened. Wondered how he went from a promising young student to a man with more scars than he had fingers, getting a tattoo that would obviously mark him as something other than a member of respectable society, in her backstreet parlour of all things.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hitsugaya Toushirou/Kurosaki Karin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>64</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>So basically I saw a gorgeous piece of fanart that got me thinking about this concept and literally within 24 hours this was written! You can find the fanart on <a href="https://twitter.com/EmmmMIRU/status/1367473505424576525">twitter</a>, or <a href="https://emmmmiru.tumblr.com/post/644762214853689344/so-its-time-for-our-collab-with">tumblr</a>, done by the very amazing Abby (<a href="https://twitter.com/_abcheeks">twitter</a>/<a href="https://almightybuttcheeks.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>) and Emi (<a href="https://twitter.com/EmmmMIRU">twitter</a>/<a href="https://emmmmiru.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a>)! Please do give them and their work lots of love because they definitely deserve it! They have lots of other great pieces on their accounts I literally cannot recommend them enough! I might continue writing this at some point, but it probably won't happen for a little while if I do so it's a oneshot for now. Also a quick disclaimer, I have no tattoos nor have I even been in a tattoo parlour, I don't fully know all the processes and what not, hopefully it's not too obvious! And I hope you enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">“Ok so I know I went through the whole procedure in our consultation but I'm just gonna go through it again alright? It's been a few weeks and all.” Her client inclined his head. “Cool, ok, so we're gonna shave the whole area, clean and sanitize the skin, and then I'm gonna stencil the tattoo on. I know we've already spent hours getting the lineart down but I want you to make sure you're happy with it before I start the actual tattoo. Obviously once it's on it's on.” He nodded again. “Once you're sure you're happy, all you gotta do is lie down and try to relax as much as you can while I work. Cool?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Quiet as he was, his only response was to start unbuttoning his shirt, signalling that he was ready to get started. Karin took the cue and went to set up the first round of equipment she needed. She washed her hands and put on a pair of latex gloves, picking up the razor from her table. She found him sitting on her bench, facing the large mirror mounted on her wall. “Oh before I start, you didn't drink any alcohol in the last 24 hours? No aspirin? Anything like that?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He glanced up, meeting her eyes in the reflection. “No. I followed the instructions you gave me.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Good.” Karin gave him a smile, still looking at each other in the mirror, before getting on with the task at hand. She directed him to lie face down on her bench, pulling a stool over for herself. She meticulously shaved the entire expanse of his back, taking extra care round his shoulder blades, the curves of his spine, the bumps of the scars she knew better than to ask about. “Ok,” more to herself than anything, “Right just gonna sanitize now, it's gonna be a little cold.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Mn.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin soaked a clean cloth in rubbing alcohol and rubbed across his skin, making sure to cover the entire area she'd be working on. She got up from her seat to grab the stencil paper with his tattoo all planned out, pulling it out of the protective wrapping she had put it in. “Ok you know the drill by now, stay as still as you can for me.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He complied, saying nothing as Karin positioned herself over him, lining up the stencil with his shoulder blades, using his various scars as landmarks for where the tattoo lines should go. Adjusted the paper ever so slightly to the left, then slowly but firmly pressed the sheet against his skin, patting it down so it moulded to him. Happy with the placement so far, Karin moved away from the bench to start setting up the tattoo process itself, pulling out black ink, making sure her client had the drink and snacks she asked him to bring, setting them up on a little trolley. She moved back over to him, enough time should've passed to transfer the design by now. Karin smoothly peeled the sheet off his skin and delicately set the paper down on the protective wrapping it had been in. “Right, go take a look in the mirror, see if you're happy with the placement.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Her client got off the bench, studying the linework as best he could. Karin came over with a second mirror in her hands, holding it up in a way that let him see the stencil on his back without straining his neck. He took a couple of minutes, moving his shoulders around, making sure it would still look good when he wasn't just lying still.</p><p class="western"><br/>
“It's fine.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin stared intensely at him. “You're sure? One hundred percent positive? Once I start that's it.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
His eyes met hers properly for the first time since he arrived. “I'm sure. Start it.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin nodded. “Alright. Get back on the bench for me.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She waited for him to get settled, gave him a cushion for his head, and repositioned him gently in a way that would be easier for her to work on. She moved her stool closer to the bench, currently beside his left pectoral. “Alright, last chance. You happy for me to get started?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Yes.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
And with that she positioned her inked tattoo needle above his skin, foot pushing down on the connected pedal. “Going in now, try not to flinch on me.” Karin started on one of the thicker lines just in case he did jerk, but thankfully her client stayed still. She continued following along the thick line, the line that would eventually become the outline of the dragon encompassing almost his entire back. She took note of the deep breath he let out. “Let me know if the pain gets too much and you need to take a break.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Pain isn't an issue.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She raised an eyebrow he couldn't see. “Yeah until it is. You wouldn't be the first grown man to cry on this bench you know. Like I said, let me know if you need a break. If I think you're lying to me I'm just gonna stop regardless.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He looked up at her face, something other than cool distance in his eyes for a split-second before he turned his head to rest the other way, shutting his eyes, seemingly entering some sort of meditative state. Well, he wouldn't be the first client to fall asleep on her bench either. She scooted her seat over an inch to follow a line more easily. She focused closely on his left shoulder blade, taking as much time as she needed to ink the lines exactly, wiping his skin carefully whenever his blood welled up to the surface. She stood up and leaned over him, taking some time to take the lines from his upper left side over to his right. Satisfied so far, she took her foot off the pedal. Moved her seat over to his right side, moved her equipment, set up once again. She got to work on his right shoulder blade, making sure to check on him every so often now that she could see his face.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin hoped he couldn't tell that she was being slower on this side. Seeing his face was like seeing a ghost. She doubted he knew this, but she recognised him. They had gone to the same school, him a couple of years older, and completely impossible to miss with his bright white hair and piercing blue eyes. Karin knew he didn't know who she was, older kids almost never knew the younger years unless there were siblings involved. But everyone knew Toshiro. He was quiet even back then too, always studying away, if he wasn't taking part in the sports clubs that is, always in the top three for grades in his year, famously so. Everyone thought he'd go on to do something amazing. Karin wondered what happened. Wondered how he went from a promising young student to a man with more scars than he had fingers, getting a tattoo that would obviously mark him as something other than a member of respectable society, in her backstreet parlour of all things.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin shook her head and refocused. Not her business. Besides while they may have the whole afternoon there's no excuse for being this slow. She turned her full attention onto his back, meticulously following the stencil with black ink, scooting a little closer as she very carefully filled out the dragon's head. Her gaze instinctively flicked over as she caught sight of his now open eyes in her peripheral vision. She pulled the needle back from his skin. “You ok?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Hmm. Burns a little.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Ah, that's pretty normal, it's because there's a lot of detail in this section. You wanna stop for a bit?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He considered for a moment. “Finish the section, then a break.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin nodded, dipping the needle into the ink again and bringing it over to his back. “There's probably about...twenty? Minutes left of this bit, so not too much to endure hopefully.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She continued with her work, taking her time to get the tattoo as perfect as she could, noticing that even though he made no noise that Toshiro was wincing occasionally. “Just a little bit more,” she wiped the cloth over his skin, more for comfort than wiping any blood away, “hang on just a little longer.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“I'm fine.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin rolled her eyes. “<em>Clearly</em>. It's ok to admit that it hurts you know.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
That brought a sarcastic scoff out of him. Looking at the tattoo he was getting, Karin supposed Toshiro had likely been trained out of showing pain by now. He'd been in the 'organization' for a while if she had to guess. She still gave him little words of support as she finished the last bits of the section, not caring if he thought them useless. She finished the last line on his right shoulder blade and pulled away, easing off the pedal. “Alright, break time. Get out of that position for a bit, eat something.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He slowly moved into a sitting position, stretching his arms out cautiously. He leaned over to grab his water bottle, taking a few gulps with his eyes on Karin.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin binned her gloves so she could get a drink of her own, not particularly bothered by his stare. “What?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Nothing.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She gave him a look but said nothing, unwrapping a granola bar. “Is it looking alright so far?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Toshiro rotated around in his seat so he could look at his back in the mirror. He stared for a moment. “Looks good.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Good. Do you think you'll be alright to continue in a bit? Ideally I'd like to get all the lineart done this afternoon, but obviously we can finish another day if you're struggling.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He shook his head. “You said there needed to be a month gap between sessions, I'd rather get all the lines done today.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Fair enough. If I don't think you can handle it though it's tough, we're stopping.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“This is nothing. I can handle it.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin's eyes dropped down to the knot of rough scar tissue on his lower left abdomen, a scar which she knew had a matching one on the other side, knew it was likely that he'd been run through with some sort of blunt object at some point. She knew he must've been through worse. That didn't matter though. “I don't push clients past what I think they can take, regardless of what they say. You agreed to that at the consultation, and again when you paid earlier. If I say we're stopping, we're stopping. Understand?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin didn't let her stern expression change as he stared at her. He had another thing coming if he thought he could intimidate her. He broke away from her gaze with a sigh. “Fine.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin finally took a bite out of her snack. “Good.” Another bite. “How much time do you want until we start again?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He looked at his watch. Expensive, but understated, Karin noticed. So much classier than half of her other clients. Toshiro may have made some stupid decisions to get here but at least he had some taste. “Fifteen minutes?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Cool.” She threw the bar wrapper away. “I'm gonna make a cup of tea, you want one?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She didn't know why that of all things brought a reaction out of him. “Tea?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Yeah, I've got green tea or black if you want a cup?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Um...Green, please.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin wondered when the last time he got asked a simple, polite question. It was the least composed she'd seen him. Oh well, his life was his life. She walked over to the little kitchenette she had at the back of the shop, hiding behind a heavy curtain. She set water to heat up in a saucepan on the single burner, better for controlling the temperature, as she got two mismatched mugs out of the cupboard. Spooned green tea into both, keeping an eye on the saucepan. Once she judged the water hot enough she poured into both cups, stirring them with a spoon. “Hey, you want any honey in yours?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Oh, um...”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin bit back a laugh. Toshiro was obviously very good at following orders, he didn't seem to know how to react when asked for his opinion. It would be cute if she didn't know why he was like that. “I'll put a bit of honey in it.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Thank you.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She stirred the honey in, dropped the spoon into the sink and picked the mugs up, elbowing her way back past the curtain. She handed one to him, “here you go.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He carefully took it from her, wrapped both of his hands around the mug. “Thank you.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin watched him for a moment, saw the way he clung to the warmth of the tea. She wondered when the last time was that Toshiro let himself have any kind of comfort. He'd been so indifferent until she did something as basic as offer him a hot drink while he was in her care for hours. She pushed the thoughts down. Not her business. She watched as he took a long sip, eyes closed as he did. He was clearly starved for warmth. <em>Not her business</em>.</p><p class="western"><br/>
“This is good.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She gave him a professional smile. “Well I'm nothing if not a perfectionist.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Hm.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
A quiet minute passed.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Part of Karin wanted to talk to him more but she ignored the impulse. What was she supposed to say anyway? It's not like she could ask about what he did for a living, she doubted he had hobbies, he was clearly deep in it. She pulled her phone out and passed the time on that while she sipped at her tea. He finished before she did but waited silently and patiently for her to finish, hands clasped neatly around the empty mug in his lap. He must be so good at following at orders.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin finished the last of her drink and got up from her seat, moving to pick up the cup from him. He gave her another thank you as she did, still sitting quietly as Karin went to leave them both in the sink to be washed later. She washed her hands again, ready to get another pair of gloves on. “You ready to go again?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Yes.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She came back, pulling the gloves on as she went, finding him back in his previous position. She moved her stool to the middle of his back. “You can move your arms to somewhere more comfortable now that I've done your shoulders by the way.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Toshiro hesitated for a moment before bending them in front of him instead, arms almost crossed, head pillowed on them.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin dipped the needle into the black ink. “Ready?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Yes.” It was slightly muffled by his arms.</p><p class="western"><br/>
She leaned her foot onto the pedal and brought the needle to his skin. She decided to ignore him as best she could, aside from if he was in obvious pain, letting herself get lost into tracing the stencil. There wasn't as many lines in the middle part of his back, the detail would come later when she did the colour in another session, so it was easy to get on with. Karin worked in silence for over an hour, careful as ever with the lines, switching sides when she needed to. Karin just reached the small of his back when she decided to pull away for bit, stopping the needle. She got up from her little stool and stretched out her arms, her back. Froze when she noticed that Toshiro hadn't moved or said anything. She moved to crouch in front of his face, smiling a little as she realised he had in fact fallen asleep. She shook his forearm, startling when he suddenly grabbed her wrist, gripping hard, doing her best not to fall backwards in surprise.</p><p class="western"><br/>
It took a moment for Toshiro to come back to himself, releasing her immediately once he figured out where he was. “I apologise.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin rolled her wrist around, testing it. “No harm done.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“I didn't...” He looked uncomfortable, “...expect to fall asleep.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin shrugged. “You're not the first, it happens. I think some people find it therapeutic somehow.” She decided to miss out the fact that it was only ever her normal clients who fell asleep, never the ones getting this sort of work done. Always too cautious to fall asleep in an unknown place. She didn't know how to feel about how Toshiro had apparently managed to relax completely in her presence. “Anyway, I've finished the line work down to your waist. I wanted to give you another break before I got started with your lower back. Because it's got the tail it's got a lot of detail and its pretty fine work, it's gonna take a while and it'll probably hurt a bit.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Toshiro nodded and checked his watch. 4:37 in the afternoon. “Is there enough time to do all of it this afternoon? You close at six don't you?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“I do but it's fine if it goes over a little bit, I'd rather take the time to get it right. Besides I've got no clients booked in for tomorrow morning, we can get it done today as long as you can manage it.” He nodded again as he slightly shifted off the bench entirely, gently moving his torso around. “Feeling sore?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“I'm-” whatever he was about to say he thought better of it. “A little. More stiff than sore though.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Alright. Just be careful stretching, even if it doesn't hurt too much I've still poked thousands of holes into your back.” He nodded in response.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin checked her emails while Toshiro took a few minutes to slowly stretch out. She put her phone down on her desk. “You want more tea?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
His eyes flashed to hers before quickly looking away. “If it's not too much trouble.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She bit down her smile. Criminals had no business being this cute. She kept her head down as she moved back to the kitchenette, speaking as she went. “You're paying me enough to cover my rent for three months, a second cup of tea isn't trouble.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
They both ignored that a portion of that money was to ensure that she'd stay quiet about him, about the tattoo. Unnecessary, but she wasn't about to turn it down when he'd been so willing to give it. She'd happily take a bribe over a threat, not that it would've worked. The first couple of clients who tried to scare her into staying quiet got kicked out of her parlour quicker than they could think, and presumably news spread as no one had tried since. There weren't many tattooists around, even less that were willing to work on their type, and none as good as her. They always learned to behave real quick. But, she thought as she handed over a full mug of green tea to Toshiro, it was nice when they came in polite and already listening to her.</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin looked up from her phone when she felt the back of her neck prickle. He kept getting lost in thought while looking at her. It was a little off-putting. She sighed. “What is it? You keep staring.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“it's nothing.” Karin pointedly raised her eyebrow, waiting for an actual answer. He looked away but answered anyway. “I feel like I recognise you from somewhere.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin faltered for split-second before deliberately going back to typing on her phone as quickly and seamlessly as possible. It wouldn't do either of them any favours if he figured out that they've been in the same circles. “I'd remember you I'm pretty sure. I probably just look similar to someone you know.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He looked at her again, obviously studying her face. Karin ignored it, continued answering an email request for a consultation next week. “Hm. Perhaps.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She fought not to look up. That was cryptic. She hoped he hadn't recognised her, it would be easier if he hadn't. She sent the email and switched to scrolling on social media while Toshiro finished his tea.</p><p class="western"><br/>
“What made you go into tattoos?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin stopped scrolling, willing her face not to react. He was fishing for information. “Ah you know, couldn't stop doodling as a kid. Decided to do something with it. I like that it's methodical, it's nice having a job I can get really into.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Can't imagine it's the sort of thing your family would agree with though.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Her eyebrow quirked for a second before she could tamp it back down. He was pushing it. “I've always been a bit of a free spirit. I think they're just glad I've got a steady stream of income coming in.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Hm.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin kept her attention on her phone, didn't look up. Had he recognised her? Why was he suddenly so interested? It rung alarm bells in her head. Noticing that he had finished his drink, she slipped her phone back into her pocket, standing up, doing her best to act normal. “You ready for the last section? Just another hour now hopefully.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He stretched himself out again, handing the mug back to Karin, before getting back on the bench. “Yeah.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin put the mug in the sink again, took a deep breath. One more hour, that was it. She walked back to the shop floor, set herself back up next to him, positioned by his hips now. She didn't rush, she was a professional after all, she took her time with the lines, inking in the fine details but she didn't reassure him when he started to struggle again. Well, she made sure to wipe his skin, soothing it just as often as cleaning the blood away, but she said nothing. The less she said the better at this point. She got on with it, finally finishing the entire lineart only ten minutes later than she expected to. “Stay there for me.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin moved her equipment out of the way, grabbed other things she needed and placed them on the table instead. She wiped across his lower back one more time to catch the few pinpricks of blood that had seeped up to the surface while she was gone and then encouraged him to look in the mirror. She grabbed the second mirror and held it up again so he could look at his back properly. “Happy with it?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He moved similarly to how he did when he inspected the stencil, testing how the inked skin looked when he moved around. “Yes.” He looked her in the eyes for a second. “Thank you.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Mm-hm.” She put the mirror down and got him to turn round. She carefully rubbed ointment into his back, covering the entire tattoo, ignoring how he was watching her. She put the bottle down to wrap his entire back, sticking it to him with medical tape. “Done. You can get dressed again.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She binned her pair of gloves and washed her hands, leaving the equipment for when Toshiro was out of her shop. She moved over to her desk, pulling out an already prepared bag for aftercare, waiting for Toshiro to join her. Dressed and put together again, he walked to stand in front of her desk, still watching her. She ignored it.</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Right,” she gestured to different items in the bag, “you've got personalised instructions in there, same as what I told you at the consultation. Keep it wrapped for twenty four hours, don't soak your back in water, don't blast it with a shower either, but do clean it, just be gentle when you wash. You need to wash your back everyday for at least a week, <em>pat</em> it dry with a clean towel, don't scrub, and make sure to cover your back in this ointment after that. It should start scabbing over and peeling after a week or so, it'll probably itch, don't. Do not scratch the area, keep all contact with the area gentle. If you still have ointment left use that, if not a good sensitive moisturiser will work too, keep the area clean and moisturised as that'll help with the itching. Remember that it's normal for it to look weird for a while, they usually take three to four weeks to visibly heal. Wear soft, loose clothing, try to sleep on your front if you can as well. If you have any questions at any point you can always phone me or email me. If you get concerned about it you can go to a doc-, well you can come back here and I'll check it. There's also extra wrapping in the bag in case the wrapping you've got on comes loose, but it shouldn't. Any questions?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“No.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Alright well, you paid me half at the beginning so we're good, I'll take the rest of the payment next time when I do the colour. I've got you booked in for...five and a half weeks from now, the seventeenth of May. Full afternoon again. Sounds good?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Toshiro nodded and picked up the bag from the desk. “Thank you.” He made sure he had everything, quickly checked his watch and then started to walk out of her parlour. Suddenly froze. Karin felt her heart rate speed up as he turned his head to the wall, where she'd displayed her certificate that said she'd passed a hygiene course with flying colours. It had her name on, Karin Kurosaki. It had never been an issue before, most clients even in the business wouldn't recognise the name, too low in the hierarchy. And she knew Toshiro wasn't on the other side, the Hollows knew to keep their distance from her unless they felt like being disembowelled. Only just getting tattooed and he was already high up enough to know what the name 'Kurosaki' truly meant? Toshiro was moving up quickly, maybe even suspiciously quick. She kept her eyes on him as he turned round to face her.</p><p class="western"><br/>
“Are you the only artist here?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
That wasn't the question she was expecting. “Yeah, this is all mine.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
His gaze was intense. “And you said you have experience with tattoos like mine?”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Karin narrowed her eyes. She didn't know where he was going with this. “Yes? I wouldn't be so good at them otherwise.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
His eyes had practically become steel. “Take that down. Don't have your name displayed like that.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
She stared at him. So he knew enough to know the name and what it meant, but not who <em>she</em> actually was. Interesting. “It's been up for years, I haven't had a problem before.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He shook his head sharply. “Shit's been getting worse lately. It's dangerous having your name up like that with the kind of clients you have. Take it down.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Holy shit. Did he actually think she was an innocent bystander? He <em>was</em> cute. You don't have multiple family members in high positions and manage to be completely separate, even if her dad had tried years ago. It didn't work, obviously, otherwise she wouldn't be here, branding their new members. She decided to play dumb, for now anyway. “Well if you're that worried, I'll take it down.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
He nodded once. “Good. Keep yourself safe.” He pulled himself out of the cold persona. “Thank you again.”</p><p class="western"><br/>
Oh she couldn't do this. He was way too cute. Karin smirked as she watched him leave the shop, waiting for him to be almost out the door before she spoke. “No problem Toshiro.” She laughed as he stumbled over his own feet, looking back at her with shocked eyes as he realised that she knew exactly who he was. She closed the door, glass between them and locked it, giving him a wave. She was done with him today, but their session next month was going to be interesting.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ok so I know I said I probably wouldn't write more for this for a while but it turns out I lied haha. My brain gripped onto more ideas and wouldn't let go! I don't know exactly how much more I'll write, but I can say there'll definitely be one more chapter after this, and probably a fourth. After that? I have no idea honestly! I'll just have to see where it goes :') I hope you enjoy this chapter!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="western">Karin had wondered how Toshiro would act in this session, now that it was obvious she knew exactly who he was, that she wasn't some innocent bystander in all this. He was a little awkward when he first came in, watching his actions and his words a little more closely, but he seemed to be settling back into normal. Karin directed him to lie face down on her bench, shirt off. “You know the drill by now, I'm shaving the area, cleaning it, then getting to work. No stencil this time as we've already got all the lines down, just going straight in with colour, with a largely blue colour scheme as you requested. Happy?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Yes.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin snapped on a pair of disposable gloves and got to work prepping his skin, shaving his back while taking some time to scrutinize how the current tattoo had healed. She put the razor back on her little side table, picking up a clean cloth and soaking it in rubbing alcohol. She uttered a quiet “cold” as warning and started rubbing across his skin, covering the entire expanse of his back. Toshiro stayed where he was as Karin got up, throwing away the cloth, razor, and gloves. She picked up the sketchbook she had shown him earlier, his tattoo all sketched out and filled in with watercolours, displaying her idea on how to complete the dragon. He had readily approved her work, refused any alterations, seemingly pretty pleased with it, so Karin intended to follow it as closely as she could. She set the sketchbook up on the table in such a way that she could easily see it and started preparing ink colours. Set up her machine with the pedal easily accessible from her stool. Washed her hands and pulled on another pair of gloves. “You ready?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Yes.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Definitely happy with the design?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He deliberately looked her in the eyes in the mirror mounted in front of him. “Definitely.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin pulled the stool over to his right shoulder blade. “Alright then. Don't flinch,” she put her foot on the pedal, “starting now.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Like last time, Toshiro didn't move as she put the needle to his skin, staying still as she worked. She leaned closer as she started with the dragon's eyes, filling them in with a muted orange, taking time to saturate the area with colour. Mixed a slighter darker orange so she could inject more detail in them. It was hardly the largest area of the tattoo, but it was certainly a focal point and she wanted to make them as perfect as they could be. She wiped his skin carefully, and then got to work with other smaller details, the teeth, the pink inside of its mouth. Once those were out of the way, she started mixing a bigger batch of blue ink for the main body. She held out the pot towards Toshiro, “happy with the colour?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He lifted his head up, studying it for a moment. “It looks a little dark. Will it go closer to the sketchbook colour as it goes in?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin compared the blue in her hands to the blue that had been painted across the page set out in front of her. “Hmm, it won't be as dark as this in your skin, obviously it'll look a lot more pigmented all in one container like this, but it might not be quite as light as that either. Hang on.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She started mixing more ink in to get it lighter. “I'll err towards lighter if you'd prefer, your skin is pretty pale, so I'm worried it won't show up well, but if we go lighter and it doesn't work we can just go over it again in a darker colour. Better that way round than the other.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I...it would be frustrating to need another session, but I would prefer that, I don't want it too dark.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin hummed as she continued mixing, comparing regularly to the sketchbook, only half paying attention as she teased him. “I hope I'm not the frustrating part.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“No.” His ears going suddenly pink revealed Toshiro thought he spoke embarrassingly quickly, “it's...the healing process is the annoying part.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Yeah that's fair, the itching really can be a bitch.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro's brows furrowed in thought. “You're tattooed?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin snorted in response as she added a drop of dark blue ink to the mix. “Who would trust a tattoo artist who isn't tattooed? Of course I've got tattoos.” She caught him looking her up and down, his eyes landing on the simple crescent moon on the inside of her wrist. “You have to be pretty lucky to see the rest,” she said with a wink, making him avert his eyes again. She smiled to herself as she finished mixing up the ink. “Right I think this is a better colour, should come out as a sky blue, more or less.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He lifted his head up again, starting at the pot and comparing the colour to the sketchbook before nodding in agreement and settling back down.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“You good for me to go with it?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Yeah.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>And with that Karin scooted closer to Toshiro, dipped her needle into the pot and brought it to his skin. Focused, she steadily filled in the dragon's main body in a scale pattern, making sure to leave outlines that she'd fill with a lighter blue later. She had gotten about a quarter of the dragon done, just barely over an hour when Toshiro spoke up again.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Should I be concerned that it's already itching?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin took a minute to study the skin she'd gone over, gently rubbing the area with a gloved finger, pulling the skin ever so slightly to make sure there were no abnormalities. “Everything looks fine. It's probably because getting solid colour like this is pretty intense compared to getting lines, I'm going over large sections of your skin again and again, your skin probably just doesn't like it. It's certainly not an allergic reaction at any rate.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro nodded in response and set his head back down, letting Karin continue. But now that Toshiro had mentioned it, it was pretty obvious that he was struggling more with this session compared to the last one. “There's a bend in the dragon coming up, probably twenty, twenty five minutes away, it'll make a good stopping point, we'll take a break then.” Noticing how quickly Toshiro had agreed, Karin resolved to reach the bend as quickly as she could without sacrificing quality. About ten minutes in, he winced as she started going over his spine, making her pull the needle away. “You ok?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Mm, just didn't expect it, the line work was a lot easier to deal with.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Problem with the spine is that the skin's a lot closer to the bone, so it hurts more, especially when you're going over repeatedly like this. You wanna stop?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He shook his head resolutely. “Keep going.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin took note of his still tensed muscles and put a firm hand on the small of his back. “Alright, for now. I'll stop if I think I have to. Relax again for me, that's it.” She dipped the needle back into the ink and kept going, wiping his skin regularly to try and help with the pain. Had to stop every couple of minutes to remind him to relax his muscles. “Just a few centimetres left now of this part, we're almost done. Then we'll take a nice long break.” She stroked her thumb against his back as he unconsciously tensed up again. “<em>Relax</em>. Remember to breathe for me.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro tried his best, but he didn't really loosen back up until she pulled the needle away entirely, setting it back on the table. “Done?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin hummed in response, pulling off her gloves. “For now, we're about a third of the way down. Well, without details, we're still a way off finished unfortunately. We might have to book a third session anyway.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He huffed as he slowly got up from the bench, wincing occasionally. “I was hoping to avoid that.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I know, but it is what it is. We'll see how we go.” She threw the gloves away and washed her hands. “You want tea again?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro looked a little embarrassed but he nodded as he gingerly stretched out his back. “Um, please.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Green again?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Yes, thank you.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She gave him a smile and disappeared off into her little kitchenette, making tea for both of them. She mixed honey into his like last time, handing him the mug carefully. She got comfortable in her own chair and pulled her phone out, planning to give him a breather for about half an hour. She sipped her tea as she answered an email, a request for her to check a tattoo done about a week ago, the client was worried it may have gotten infected. She sent them an invitation to stop by her shop any time they liked in the afternoon tomorrow with a sigh. She remembered the client, he had wanted a detailed design and was worried about the ink potentially bleeding out or fading, no doubt he hadn't been washing it well enough, too worried about damaging the tattoo even though she had reassured him it would be fine. Oh well, she'd pick up some antibiotics later in case he needed them, seeing as he couldn't very well go to a doctor with the sort of tattoo he now had.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Everything ok?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin looked up from her phone with a smile. “Yeah, just slightly annoying work stuff. How are you doing?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He met her eyes for a moment before looking down. “Stings.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She inclined her head in acknowledgement, smile still on her face. She knew for a fact that he'd been trained to not show pain, she'd read up on his information out of curiosity, and he was clearly a little ashamed that the tattooing was bothering him, but she was glad he was telling her the truth anyway. She told him as such and watched as he flustered in response. If only all of her clients were as easy as Toshiro. She knocked back the rest of her tea and put the mug down on the floor next to her, not intending to get back up yet. She crossed a leg over the other as she started scrolling on social media, keeping an eye on the clock. It had only been about fifteen minutes but Toshiro was obviously already bored. He clearly didn't know how to do nothing. She sighed as she watched him fiddle with the empty mug still in his hands, decided he needed an order. “You should eat some of the snacks you brought, keeping your blood sugar up helps when you're struggling through the process.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He startled at her voice but complied easily enough, pulling out a bag of savoury crackers, grimacing as opening the packet pulled on his damaged skin. He ate a few, following it up with a few swallows of water.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin watched as he did, speaking without meaning to. “Do you always follow orders so well, or is it just because you know I'm a Kurosaki now?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro stared at her for a moment, surprised and lost for words. When he did find them, he spoke slowly, as if testing her reaction. “I followed your instructions last time, before I knew who you were.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She grinned at the word choice. “Oh? Do you actually know who I am? Besides being a Kurosaki that is.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He flushed at his mistake and shook his head. “No, no I only know your name. Well that, and evidently you tattoo the new members.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin nodded in response. “Better that way, that you only know that much, trust me. Although I'll admit I know about you.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“That much was obvious last time.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She laughed at the memory before looking sheepish. “Actually to tell you the truth I hadn't read up on you yet, I mean obviously you were one of our members but I didn't know much past that yet! I recognised you from school.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>That got him to stare at her once more, confused this time. “School?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Mhm. We went to the same high school.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Oh...” Silence for minute. “I don't remember you.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin got up and put her phone back from behind the desk. “That doesn't surprise me, you were a couple years above me, we weren't actually there at the same time for that long. Besides I wasn't that memorable back then.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Hard to believe.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin raised an eyebrow, watched as Toshiro flushed once again.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I just mean...” He looked away as he thought of the words. “You have a pretty distinctive personality.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She let out a laugh and decided to put him out of his misery. “That's certainly one way of putting it. You ready to go again?” He nodded as she leaned down to pick her mug up, collected the one in Toshiro's hands too, and deposited them both in the kitchen sink. “Alright,” she called out as she entered the shop floor again, “get back on your front then.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He slowly lowered himself back into position on her bench while Karin washed her hands, pulling on a new pair of gloves. She dragged her stool over to sit next to Toshiro's waist, carefully pulling the rest of the equipment over with her. Popped open the cap she'd put on over the blue ink and dipped the needle in. Got the cloth ready in her left hand, sitting on his skin next to the area she was about to start colouring, still at his spine. “I'm going right in here,” she stroked her left thumb over the section, “probably another twenty minutes or so of spine work, then it moves down to here,” she said dragging her thumb to follow the dragon etched into his back, “which shouldn't feel as bad, but let me know if you need to tap out. I'll admit it would be easier to get all of this colour done in one go, but if it's too much then don't worry about it. I've written down the mix of colours I used and the amounts so I should be able to get it again.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro shook his head. “I've heard tattoo colours fade eventually, I'd rather get the whole body done so it at least fades evenly.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin hummed in thought. “Well a month difference between shouldn't have too much of an effect, but I get what you mean. What I'm gonna do is focus entirely on getting the main body colour done, ignore the rest of the details for now, we'll take breaks as frequently and as long as I think you need them, and we'll see where that takes us time wise. If we have to schedule another session to finish all the details then we'll do that.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro absorbed this for a moment before agreeing. “Alright.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Ok.” She positioned her foot on the pedal and leaned over him once more, left hand firm on his back. “Starting now, try not to move.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>This time he did jolt ever so slightly, but thankfully her hand pinning his waist down meant the specific area she was working on didn't move. She continued as normal, getting into a rhythm, dip the needle into the ink, engrave a new scale into his skin, wipe the skin to soothe the sting, repeat. Whether it was the obvious method to her current process, or the fact that she had taken the stress away of trying to get the whole thing finished this afternoon, Toshiro seemed to deal with it better, managing to sit through more than another third of the dragon before he started to get antsy, asking her to stop for a bit. Karin of course complied, pulling the needle away from him and giving his skin another wipe before pulling herself away too. Hovered to make sure Toshiro was able to get up from the bench himself, moving noticeably slower than he had in the first break.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin watched him carefully, offering an arm when he hissed out under his breath, but he ignored it, slowly getting himself up. “Hmm. We might need to take a longer break. You were doing really well but I think you might have pushed yourself a little too much in one go.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I imagine it would've hurt this much regardless of how spaced out you did it.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“The level of pain probably, but the amount of pain, how much of your skin is burning at once not so much. Do your shoulder blades still hurt?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He carefully rolled them around. “A little, not as much as before but I can't tell if it's because the pain faded or if it's because I'm feeling the middle section a lot more right now.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin pulled off her gloves as she analysed his back. “Well I would say that I'm not gonna do a long section like that in one go again, but there's only about four inches left of the main body anyway, then it just goes into the tail, which wont have too much in the way of scales, it'll be fiddly so it'll take me a while, I'll have to be pretty careful, so it's not gonna be as intense.” She shrugged. “We'll see how we go, I can probably do the rest in one go, but we'll see.” And with that she disappeared into the back again, automatically making Toshiro another cup of green tea and handing it to him. He looked up at her with surprise, with a slight smile as she did, the first smile she had seen from him. It made him look younger. All of a sudden she saw the boy she remembered from school before blinking away the image, disappearing back into the kitchenette to fill up her water bottle.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin took a moment to breathe. She really did wonder why he was here, getting permanently marked as a gang member of all things. What had happened to bring him here? She had read the file they had on him, but it didn't explain why he had joined, why he had suddenly swore allegiance with the Shinigami, which meant it was personal. Her father always protected the confidence of the members when it was like that, said that it was only fair, the members had to protect the secrecy of the Shinigami and their goings on after all. The fact that it wasn't in the file meant she wasn't supposed to know. But to bring Toshiro, ex-star student, ex-most likely to succeed in life, et cetera into all this, Karin knew it had to have been bad.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She shook her head with a grimace. She was getting too curious, too attached, something she of all people was certainly not meant to do, not with her responsibilities. It was just because she happened to vaguely know of him beforehand, something she should forget at this point. He wasn't him any more, even if she could see flashes of that person here and there. She shook her head at herself again and filled her water bottle like she was supposed to. Aggressively screwed the cap back on. Walked back out onto the shop floor with purpose, grabbed her phone from her desk, and sat herself down in her seat. Ignored that Toshiro was watching her.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“You ok?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>God he was the worst. Why couldn't he just cower in fear once he learned she was a Kurosaki like the rest of them. “Fine.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>His expression showed he didn't believe her, but he didn't push it, just sipped on his tea quietly. Glanced to her occasionally, obviously concerned, not out of dread or nerves, but out of worry. Karin didn't know how to deal with that. The members who did know who she was were scared of her, Toshiro was the first who wasn't. It made her job a lot easier, the members keeping their distance from her. Although in fairness she thought, Toshiro might not know what it was she actually did in the organisation. Perhaps he thought she just did the tattoos, thought she was only tangentially linked to the Shinigami. She was the youngest after all, and all Kurosakis were notoriously protective, maybe he thought that's all she was. That she could deal with, she supposed.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Ten minutes of silence passed, Karin playing a game on her phone and Toshiro sipping at his tea, until he decided to gently place his presumably empty mug on the floor like Karin had earlier, and break back into the snacks he had brought with him. Swallowed a mouthful before the quiet evidently got to him. “How long have you been doing this?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin looked up at him, studying his face before deciding there was probably no harm in answering the question. “Little over four years.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He made a small noise of acknowledgement but said nothing more, awkward silence falling between them again.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin sighed. There was no way they could keep this up for another half an hour. “How's your back doing?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He glanced at it in the mirror. “Manageable...Not great.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She nodded as she checked the time on her phone. “Yeah we're not doing the rest of the details today. I wanna give you a bit more time, probably start again at half four?” Toshiro checked the time on his watch, “I'm not sure how long this next section will take, as I said it's fiddly, but even if it only took us half an hour, that doesn't leave us with enough time for the rest.” She carefully took note of the tattoo in its entirety. “I still need to do the outlines of the scales, I need to do the finer details on the tail, the head, the horns, need to fill out the space around it a bit more.” She got up and grabbed her appointment book off her desk. “Need to allow a month for healing, so...” she said, elongating the syllable as she flipped the pages, “last week in June? Know when you're free?” She knew damn well he didn't, could get called for business at any time, but still, what else was she supposed to say?</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro pulled his own phone out, checking his calendar. “The Wednesday afternoon is probably the safest bet. If I can no longer do it I'll let you know as soon as possible.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin nodded as she pencilled him into the last Wednesday of the month, and then put the same in her phone. “Alright, hopefully that can go ahead as planned.” She tapped her fingers against the now closed planner, not knowing what to do with herself.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>A few minutes passed before Toshiro spoke up. “Is it normal for people to need breaks when getting tattooed?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin looked up to see Toshiro slightly hunched over. “Yeah, definitely. Especially when you're getting a huge piece like that done on your back. Most people opt for arms, it's easier. I mean I...well, I've got tattoos on my arms and my back, and I can tell you the back hurt worse.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He stared at her for a moment, as if he'd be able to see her ink hidden underneath her black long sleeved top if he looked hard enough, before catching her eyes and turning away. “Who tattooed you?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“We've got a few artists, one of the others did it. Although I designed it and created the stencil. I'm way too much of a control freak to let them do everything.” She laughed to herself. “Even after that I was still picky, constantly saying they should do this or that, I was probably the worst client they ever had. Well for my arms anyway. Family member did the one on the back, that one's a little different.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro nodded, understanding. Everyone who did know the Kurosakis, previously the Shibas, knew that they were one of the main families. The main families had their own tattoos, all within their own theme, generational and personal, an older family member always did it, you took what they decided for you, it was an honour to be bestowed with it. Of course with Karin being part of the main line, it was a given she'd get it done, but she still considered it an honour, becoming part of a legacy.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Can I ask?” Karin raised an eyebrow at him in response. “Do non family members ever get given the family tattoos? Ones not from blood I mean. Is it just direct descendants?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin shook her head easily. “Nah, sometimes others get given them, if someone's been adopted, or married in. Of course if they're at that point they are family anyway. Why?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I heard your brother's wife got given your symbol.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She nodded in confirmation. Usually it wasn't the sort of thing members were supposed to know, but Ichigo's wife had had dissenters because she herself was adopted into one of the other main families, people thought it was suspicious, that she was 'worming' her way into multiple families. As far as the Kurosakis were concerned though, Karin included, she was family in everything but blood, so her father decided to tattoo her on the inside of her forearm. Easy enough to hide if she needed to, in 'polite' society, but easy enough for other members to catch sight of it. It was a deliberate move, the members were supposed to know about it, now knew that she had the complete confidence and protection of the Kurosakis, in addition to her adoptive family, and the rumours stopped overnight.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Apparently having nothing else to say, or perhaps not wanting to push his luck with further questions, Toshiro fell quiet once again. Karin unlocked her phone and checked her email out of habit, finding nothing new. Spent some time on social media before reaching posts she'd already seen. Got up with a barely there sigh and headed into the kitchenette. Snacking out of boredom was not exactly the healthiest thing to do, but she had to fill the time somehow. She came back with a pack of cookies, collapsing back into her seat as she opened them. Pulled one out and stuck it straight into her mouth before offering the pack to Toshiro. He hesitated for a second before delicately pulling one out with a quiet “thank you”, eating it much more daintily than she was, but no less unappreciative.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin smiled at him. “You've got a bit of a sweet tooth huh?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He pointedly looked away from her. “No.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin threw her head back as she laughed. “Yeah right, I'm basically a human lie detector, there's no point trying to pretend with me.” She took another cookie and offered the packet towards Toshiro again. He sighed and rolled his eyes, but took another one as well anyway, ignoring Karin's grin. “Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. Besides you should feel lucky, most don't get offered snacks from my personal store.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He visibly fought down a smile. “What makes me so special?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“You're very well behaved!”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro choked on his mouthful for a moment before managing to get it down and breathe. He sent her a glare, making her laugh again.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I'm only kidding, well, kinda, you are one of the easiest clients I've had, even though your piece is one of the largest I've done. Usually I make sure to keep something sugary in case a client starts to feel faint, not all of them react well to getting tattooed, but honestly it just seemed kinda rude to eat some without offering you any. Though if you had been annoying I wouldn't have cared, but like I said, you've been good.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He rolled his eyes again, slightly pink cheeks undermining him a little bit. Karin checked the time on her phone. “Another five minutes then we'll start again, if you're happy to.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“We can start now if you want.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Are you sure? How's your back doing?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I can still feel it but it's not that bad, reaching the point where it's more irritating than painful. I feel like I can go again.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin took a gulp of her water. “Fair enough. Give me a minute.” She got up and placed her water bottle under her side table, then went to put the packet of cookies back in the kitchen cupboard. Washed her hands thoroughly and gloved them up, turning round to see Toshiro already lying down, waiting patiently for her. Karin rearranged her seat and equipment, down by his hips. She got fully set up and leaned over him, “ready?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Mhm.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>And with that Karin continued the scale pattern, falling into the same rhythm as before, taking a few minutes to do each one. Pinned Toshiro down when she started going over his spine again. About half an hour in and she had reached the more complicated part, stopping the needle for a bit while she rearranged herself again. Huffed out in frustration when she realised she couldn't quite get into a good position. “Sorry, I need to kick you off for a second, I need to raise the bench.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro readily obeyed, gently coming off the bench so Karin could fuss with the levers underneath, using her foot to pump the whole thing up a fair few inches. “Right that should do it.” Toshiro carefully lowered himself back down on the bench, pillowing his head on his arms while Karin got herself resituated. The bench being higher meant she could took her legs under it, sliding in closer so she could get a better angle at the end of the tail, where finishing off the scales well would take a lot of concentration. “Right! That's better, I'm going in again, this is the complicated part, so do your best to stay still ok?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro agreed, but Karin kept a firm hand on his lower back anyway, just in case. She pulled her table over a couple of inches and got the pedal back under her foot. She leaned over him, bracing her right arm on his back for extra stability and put her weight on the pedal. “Starting again.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Each scale took probably twice the time as they were smaller now, Karin had to focus and be more meticulous to make sure they still looked good. She took more time to make the shape of them, took more time to fill them, slowly injecting ink to ensure she kept the outlines devoid of colour. Wiped his skin much more often so the tiny pinpricks of blood wouldn't get in the way. Was slower still as her movements were a lot less predictable now, rhythm exchanged for absolute precision, so she had to make sure she kept Toshiro pinned down at the same time, with him flinching occasionally out of surprise. All in all it did take a while to finish, the time being twenty past five when Karin pulled away from finishing the last scale. She eased off the pedal and placed the needle on her table, wiped his skin and inspected the tail end of the dragon. Concluding that she was happy with it, she slid herself away from the bench, asking Toshiro to get up and have a look to see what he thought.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He positioned his back to the mirror, head over his shoulder, looking intently at the sections he could see. Karin came over with another mirror like she had last time, holding it up so Toshiro could see his back in its entirety. They spent a few minutes like that, Toshiro announcing that he was pleased and frankly impressed with the work. Karin smiled at him and took the mirror away, speaking as she went. “Yeah, I know you wanted to get it all in one go but it's better to take the time to get it right, it's looking good!”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro nodded and waited for her to come back, turning round so she could see to starting the aftercare. She squatted down for a minute to wipe his lower back again, a few small spots of blood having appeared since she stopped tattooing. Stood back up to start rubbing ointment carefully into his back, starting with his shoulders and moving down to his hips.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Thanks.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin nodded and put the bottle down to the side. Unravelled a section of wrapping and covered his entire back, again starting at the shoulders, taping it down, moving lower till she was squatting and focused on his lower back, carefully taping across the entire bottom edge of the tattoo so his trousers couldn't accidentally knock the wrapping away. She smoothed her hand across, making sure it was stuck, accidentally catching his eyes for a second in the mirror before standing back up. “Ok that's all set. Get dressed again.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She pulled the gloves off and washed her hands and went straight to her desk, pulling out the bag of aftercare for him to take home, setting it on top. Watched as Toshiro's face tightened in pain for a split-second as he carefully slipped his blazer on, buttoning it as he walked over to the desk.</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Alright so, do you remember what you gotta do?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He inclined his head. “Keep it wrapped for a whole day. Wash it gently everyday but don't soak it. Pat it dry then rub in the ointment, moisturiser once the ointment runs out. Don't scratch it.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin nodded. “Yep. Remember, good quality, sensitive moisturiser. And try to sleep on your front, wear loose clothing. Detailed instructions are in the bag like last time. The line work healed pretty well so I'm sure you know what you're doing, but if anything comes up or if you have any questions, concerns, whatever, just email me.” She pointed to the different items in the bag. “Instructions, ointment, extra wrapping and some medical tape just in case. All good?”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“Yeah.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>She smiled at him. “Great! Your schedule permitting, I'll next see you on the twenty eighth of June.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro nodded, wrapping a hand around the bag handles but didn't lift it up yet. “I know you said the payment was for the whole colour, but it's taking an extra session now, should I-”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“No no no, it's fine, for tattoos like this I charge for the piece as a whole because I can't be sure how long it'll take. What you paid covers it, I factored in that it would take a fair amount of time. I don't think we'll even need the whole afternoon next session, don't worry about it.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He hesitated but eventually agreed and picked up the bag. “Alright, if you say so.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>“I do.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Toshiro gave her a slight smile. “Thank you.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>Karin smiled back automatically. “Anytime. In fact, if you get tattooed by anyone else I'm gonna be pissed.”</p>
<p class="western"><br/>He broke out in a genuine smile, radiant and beautiful, before leaving her shop with a small wave. Karin scowled at herself as soon as he was out of sight. She should <em>not</em> be getting attached like this. She needed to get herself in check before the next session.</p>
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